Resource for chicks - and friends - who like to ride, rabble rouse, and remind one another that there is indeed strength/safety/sanity in numbers.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Bamboo Bike

I've seen images of bamboo bikes before, cool, yet more novelty and less performance oriented.

Then spotted this article in today's LA Times about Santa Cruz elite bike builder Craig Calfee, who started experimenting with bamboo frames after watching his "jaws of steel" pooch fail to make more than a dent in a bamboo stick.

Hes since built over 91 racing style bamboo bikes, including one used for the Hawaii Ironman.

Calfee's design caught the eye of a New York cyclist/environmentalist from the Earth Island Institute, as a potentially valuable form of transportation in developing countries. The two have been exploring areas of Africa, to assess the bike's economic and environmental benefits.

Will keep tabs on this, sounds like a grand idea......

My friends at Xtracycle have also sparked a revolution on this front, through Worldbike, bringing bicycle entrepreneurs together to design functional, low cost bikes to serve the needs of developing countries.